Bastrop Co. continues post-Harvey cleanup

by Adela Uchida

A FEMA Relief Center is due to open soon in Bastrop County as residents continue to recovery from Harvey. (CBS Austin)

Diana Saunders has survived five floods in her Smithville home on Northeast Seventh Street. But Harvey was the worst. "We kept praying it wouldn't rain more than 3 or 4 inches," she said. But it rained 26.5 inches, and crept up the porch and into the house. "Well it was terrifying. I was afraid we were going to have to evacuate," she said.

But they didn't. And the water didn't stick around. "I will say this for the city, the water went down faster this time than it ever has," Diana Saunders said.

Her grandson, Scott Saunders, is the mayor of Smithville. "I was actually here at my grandma's house here on Seventh Street when whenever the first drop of water came inside," he said.

Mayor Saunders says one thing kept Smithville from seeing worse flooding. "There is a detention pond at the end of this road, it is going to be about four acres long and wide and about twenty foot deep," he said. The detention pond is still under construction –--not scheduled for completion for a few months. A second detention pond will be dug after that. But the new detention pond may have already proved its worth. About 100 homes in Smithville flooded because of Harvey. "Usually these homes would have flooded after 5 inches of rain, they made it to almost 12 inches before water got into the homes," said Mayor Saunders.

Now a FEMA Relief Center is due to pop up soon, to help people find resources and file claims. Diana Saunders saved her furniture when her son and grandsons moved it all to the upper level of her split level home. But she lost her scooter to the flood waters, and she's hoping with state and federal help, she'll get a new one soon. "I need that scooter to get around," she said.

The Bastrop County OEM says they will send out a tweet when that FEMA Relief Center opens sometime in the next week.